We have been working on a new Dragon Age™ game for quite a while now and I am pleased to finally tease the existence of this project!

While we won’t be sharing any details for now, I can tell you we have been building a new team around a core of Dragon Age veterans, people I’ve worked with on Dragon Age, Jade Empire™, and some of whom I’ve worked with since the Baldur’s Gate days.

While I have been focused on Anthem™, the rest of the team has been hard at work exploring ways to push BioWare’s storytelling to the next level."

Earlier this month BioWare boss Casey Hudson droppeda new updateon the developer's official website, disclosing a little bit more information about the future of the Dragon Age brand.

"If you’ve been following these blogs, or myself and Mark Darrah on Twitter, you know we’re also working on some secret Dragon Age stuff," Hudson writes in the update. "Dragon Age is an incredibly important franchise in our studio, and we’re excited to continue its legacy. Look for more on this in the coming month (though I won’t tell you where to look…)"

Dragon Age 4: At a glance

Dragon Age 4 - What is it?

The next chapter in Bioware's fantasy RPG set in the Realm of Thedas.

For lack of a better explanation, Thedas is a bit like Middle-Earth in Lord of the Rings, or Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls. It's filled with mages, elves, dwarves, monsters and all that usual fantasy stuff.

For a GREAT explainer/beginners guide To All Things Dragon Age, check out this Kotaku story by Kirk Hamilton.

More importantly, Eurogamer states that it is an open secret the core Dragon Age team within BioWare have been working on the series' next project for some time.

That's despite BioWare or EA not formally announcing Dragon Age 4.

Recent comments by the likes of Casey Hudson, the GM at Bioware, could indicate that an official announcement is expected this year.

Dragon Age 4 - How's it coming along?

Anthem is the next big game coming from Bioware - due to launch early 2019 - but that doesn't mean the development team isn't thinking about projects beyond the launch of the shared-world shooter.

Speaking to Game Informer, BioWare general manager Casey Hudson revealed that “[BioWare] do have people figuring out what the next Dragon Age will look like.”

“It is amazing to have new IP that you’ve developed and that you own, because that’s part of the fun for us: having created Mass Effect, Dragon Age and now Anthem.

"These are worlds that we can think of many years in advance about where we want to take the franchise, the story, and things like that.”

So that suggests that a new Dragon Age is still a ways off, but at least the franchise isn't dead and something in the series is likely to surface soon(ish).

(Pic: DS)

Dragon Age 4 - Release Date

The upcoming action RPG (due to launch on Xbox One, PS4 and PC) has no release date to speak of just yet, but, it's unlikely to arrive anytime soon. We say this, as all signs from Bioware has seemed to suggest that Anthem is currently the studio's main project.

As such, we're expecting a 2020 release - at the very earliest.

Dragon Age 4 - Story

As recent comments from Bioware's Casey Hudson has indicated, Dragon Age 4 will likely follow a similar pattern to that of past outings which are "story [and] character-focused".

What is interesting is that he'd also mentioned that the game will be a "live" experience, which "means designing a game for continued storytelling after the main story."

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Dragon Age 4 - Release Date Rumours

August 27th - Reports from IGN Greece suggest that BioWare is already working on another game, and that the new title is already in the voice acting phase of development.

According to the report, a source at BioWare has noted the developer is working on another title which has an 'old' setting.

According to the unnamed source, this new unannounced title is currently at its “voiceover” stage - an indication that we're already quite far into the development process of the mysterious title. The source also states a 2020 release date may be on the cards.

If that wasn't enough of a hint at the game, Greg Ellis (the voice actor for Cullen in the series) revealed that he’s working “on an iconic video game series” for a company whose name starts with a “B” on his Twitter feed. Hmm.

Nothing has been formally announced by either EA or BioWare just yet, but with teases like these, we can't be far off... right?

(Pic: DS)

Dragon Age 4 - Development

Earlier this year, a report leaked that claimed the next Dragon Age game had been rebooted during its development in order to add more 'live' elements to the final product.

In the wake of the Star Wars Battlefront 2 microtransaction controversy, this got a lot of players understandably worried - after all, both games are published by EA.

Seeing the fallout over this rumour online, BioWare staffer Casey Hudson sought to calm down fans and reassure them - even going as far as to say people will be 'relieved' when they see the game in action.

Reading lots of feedback regarding Dragon Age, and I think you’ll be relieved to see what the team is working on. Story & character focused.

Too early to talk details, but when we talk about “live” it just means designing a game for continued storytelling after the main story.

4th September 2018 Update - BioWare general manager Casey Hudson has taken to Twitter to clarify how the studio will be looking to the future of the series, and how it plans to approach any future games.

"Some weird stuff going around about how our future games will be influenced by Anthem," Hudson wrote on Twitter. "Of course when we do a Dragon Age game it will be designed from the ground up based on what Dragon Age should be. Same with Mass Effect...

"Anthem is a specific thing that's unique from our other IPs in many ways," he added, noting stories that are circulating, regarding the other games taking a lead from Anthem. "What carries forward is what we learn about game design, which is a constant evolution."

We look forward to seeing how this takes shape.

Thedas was originally shorthand for “The Dragon Age Setting,” and the nickname stuck. (Pic: IG)

August 5 2018 - BioWare has this week issued a newupdateon its website, acknowledging the appetite gamers have for new entries in the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises.

In the update - which talks about the state of development with Anthem and the projects the team is working on - BioWare's Casey Hudson also notes that there is something happening with the legacy RPG brands at the studio... though we may not hear what they are specifically for a while.

"We hear loud and clear the interest in BioWare doing more Dragon Age and Mass Effect, so rest assured that we have some teams hidden away working on some secret stuff that I think you’ll really like – we’re just not ready to talk about any of it for a little while…"

It's reassuring to know that EA and BioWare are both fully aware of how much these series are loved, and that they haven't been forgotten entirely.

(Pic: DS)

Dragon Age 4 - Trailer

As mentioned with regards to the release date, a lot of official details about the game are still completely up in the air.

However, as we've suggested, with EA and Bioware starting to suddenly talk more readily about the game (which hasn't even been announced officially, yet) it could be that we get our first trailer, or at the least a teaser, at E3 2019 following the release of Anthem.

(Pic: DS)

Dragon Age 5?! Plans

Bioware's former Dragon Age boss Mike Laidlaw suggested that the company has plans for another two Dragon Age games beyond Dragon Age 4.

He also suggested that there is currently no set plan to end the series.

"There is no planned ending for DA," he explained on Twitter.

"There is an evolving plan that tends to look 2 games ahead or so. Thus, I could tell you what -could- be in a theoretical game 5, if there were a theoretical game 4 happening."